According to allaboutfeed.net, the maggots can be used as the basis for feed instead of fishmeal, which must be imported from Chile at a higher cost.
The ministry plans to build 4,000 small aquafeed farms in Sumatra and Kalimantan because there are many palm oil plantations in those regions and maggots can be cultivated using a by-product of palm oil trees.
Made L Nurdjana, the ministry’s director general of aquaculture, said using maggots as the basis for fish feed could cut feed costs by half.
“The fish feed can be sold at Rp 3,000 a kilogram, some 50 per cent cheaper than if we use fish flour as a raw material,” Mr Nurdjana said.
In recent months, fish farmers have complained about the high cost of fish feed, saying it was preventing them from expanding their operations.
Maggots Replace Fishmeal
INDONESIA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in Indonesia has allocated more than half a million US dollars from the state budget this year to support the production of maggots as a cheaper source of fish feed.
